When a chameleon has become dehydrated, or is a newly imported wc, a shower session is one way to stimulate a long drinking session and quickly start rehydrating. Another benefit of shower sessions is eye flushing. If a chameleon has an irritation in the eye (peice of debris or shed skin) causing just one eye to close sometimes they need some extra opportunities to clean the eye turret out. Showering allows them to do so at their own pace.
Place a plant on a stool or even on the bottom of the shower. Turn on the shower so that it is warm water, not hot. Angle the shower head to aim it at the wall, not the plant. This should create a fine mist that hits the plant gently, rather than the high power water stream. This will also cause water to form droplets on the plant's leaves. Try to leave a small area of the plant outside the fine mist radius so it stays more dry. Once you have the fine mist falling over most of the plant you can place your chameleon on the edge of the mist area. The falling mist, high humidity and beading of the water on the plants is often very successful at stimulating chameleons to start drinking. They may drink by lapping up the droplets or licking at the mist in the air for 30 minutes or more!
Always supervise your chameleon closely during shower sessions because if they fall they could hurt themselves or drown. But try to stay out of their line of sight if possible so that they are not stressed by your appearance and stop drinking prematurely. Shower sessions can be done regularly (once or twice daily) to rehydrate particularly dried out or stubborn chameleons.
Never leave a chameleon unsupervised during a shower session.
Place a plant on a stool or even on the bottom of the shower. Turn on the shower so that it is warm water, not hot. Angle the shower head to aim it at the wall, not the plant. This should create a fine mist that hits the plant gently, rather than the high power water stream. This will also cause water to form droplets on the plant's leaves. Try to leave a small area of the plant outside the fine mist radius so it stays more dry. Once you have the fine mist falling over most of the plant you can place your chameleon on the edge of the mist area. The falling mist, high humidity and beading of the water on the plants is often very successful at stimulating chameleons to start drinking. They may drink by lapping up the droplets or licking at the mist in the air for 30 minutes or more!
Always supervise your chameleon closely during shower sessions because if they fall they could hurt themselves or drown. But try to stay out of their line of sight if possible so that they are not stressed by your appearance and stop drinking prematurely. Shower sessions can be done regularly (once or twice daily) to rehydrate particularly dried out or stubborn chameleons.
Never leave a chameleon unsupervised during a shower session.
